Steve Jobs
6 October 2011 - Steve Jobs, the founder and driving force behind Apple Inc, died today. His death has predictably resulted in a welter of well-deserved praise and comment - after all, he created a string of innovative companies which gave people great products and great entertainment. He was one of the more interesting and influential individuals to have lived.
But every obituary I've heard so far has omitted what is to me the most interesting fact of his life - being fired by Apple. Every commentator so far has painted his time with his creation as an unbroken sequence of achievement. Mr Jobs is spoken of as a Thomas Edison figure, driving his teams of clever people on to greater things than they could imagine or dream possible, and astounding and delighting us gratified users in the process.
This isn't what happened.
Steve Jobs started Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976, and went on to create some of the first computers for ordinary people to use. But in 1985 he was fired - by his own board. The child of his own invention had grown up and kicked him out of the nest.
More than a decade was to pass before Mr Jobs was rehired in 1996, as part of a takeover by Apple of another company that he had founded. And then came the 'i' series that really made his name - the iMac, the iPhone and the iPod. These, together with iTunes, turned Apple into a profit powerhouse, beloved equally by a particular tribe of technophiles and corporate investors.
Now he's died, and the hagiographic writings pour forth. Deserved in so many ways, I'm sure - but don't forget that working with Steve Jobs wasn't so easy, and that being Steve Jobs maybe wasn't so easy, either. He had to endure rejection by his own people and watch while they did the wrong things. It's my guess that the latter hurt him more than the former.
So let's remember the true story, and reflect on how we treat those visionaries around us today. As I write and you read, the next Steve Jobs is probably beavering away in a small room somewhere in China - and you and I will be using the fruits of his genius in a few years' time.
Be nice to him, won't you?